State Disability Insurance (SDI)

What is SDI?

State Disability Insurance is an income replacement program administered by the State of California through the Employment Development Department. Employees contribute to SDI through payroll taxes. Not all County employees participate in this program; please check your MoU or Management Resolution to see if you are eligible to participate in this program.

Eligible employees can apply for SDI if their medical provider has deemed them disabled. Please contact the Employee Benefits Services Unit to obtain a claim form. The Employment Development Department will make all determinations on eligibility as well as benefits granted. For more information of how benefits are determined please contact EDD directly at 1-800-480-3287 or visit their website at www.edd.ca.gov.

County employees that participate in SDI may be eligible to participate in the buy back program. Please refer to your MoU for eligibility. All employees eligible for SDI who are off work on a medical leave are required to use all sick leave hours available to them in order to complete the pay period. Once the employee receives their SDI benefit, the employee will need to pay back any overpayments they might have received.

For example, an employee is off work for an entire month and has applied for SDI. While the employee waits for EDD to make a determination on their claim they will use their Sick Leave Accruals for that month. Once the employee receives their SDI payment, the Employee Benefits Services Unit will determine if there have been any overpayments, meaning that the employee received payment from the County and from SDI for the same period of time. If there has been an overpayment, the employee will need to buy back the sick leave hours used during the period that SDI and CountySick Leave overlapped.

According to EDD, if your doctor certifies you must limit your hours of work or modify your work duties due to your pregnancy disability you may be eligible for partial or full disability benefits. The usual disability period for a “NORMAL” pregnancy is up to four weeks before the expected delivery date and up to six weeks after the actual delivery. However, your doctor may certify to a longer period if the delivery is by Cesarean section, if there are medical complications, or if you are unable to perform your regular or customary job duties.

For additional information, please contact EDD directly at 1-800-480-3287 or visit their website at www.edd.ca.gov.

Paid Family Leave (PFL)

The Paid Family Leave program provides employees partial wage replacement when taking time off work to care for parents, children, spouses and registered domestic partners or to bond with a new minor child. All employees who participate in the SDI program are also eligible for PFL. For additional information, please contact EDD directly at 1-800-480-3287 or visit their website at www.edd.ca.gov.